The New Member
by Kaiser's Apprentice
Summary: *Takes place before The Not So Secret Date. While on a routine mission, the Team meets a new hero going by the name Mori. After meeting just once, the teens are already wondering who this hero is and why are they so close to Robin?


_The New Member_

It was supposed to be a simple mission; stop Clayface from causing havoc in Gotham City. However, they did not expect this…

"Miss Martian! Look out!" In a flash, Miss Martian was on the ground, with Clayface hovering over her, ready to crush her.

"Time to die martian!"

"No!" The others cried out as Clayface slammed his arm onto Miss Martian. Expecting the worst, everyone gasped in shock as several vines wrapped themselves around Clayface's arm, preventing him from crushing Miss Martian.

"What the hell is this?" Suddenly, a shadow jumped in front of Clayface and kicked him back so hard that he flew straight across the room. The shadow landed on the ground and reached out a hand to help Miss Martian up. Miss Martian stared at the hand for some seconds before taking it and pulling herself up. By now, the other members of the Team were surrounding Miss Martian and the newcomer.

"Are you alright Miss Martian?" Aqualad asked his friend. She nodded and smiled at her friends. They then turned towards the shadow. Upon closer inspection, they could tell that the shadow was a person; the person wore a black long-sleeve ninja suit with a green scarf tied around their head, almost like a hood and the person's mouth was covered by a black cloth mask; only the person's eyes, which were a brilliant shade of green, were shown along with the upper part of their face. The Team also noticed how small and feminine the figure was, seeing as they were shorter than Robin, the shortest member of the Team. After getting a good look at the newcomer, Miss Martian was the first to speak up.

"Thank you for saving me," she said, stepping up to face her savior. The person just nodded and said nothing in response. The group stood there in silence when they heard a roar and movement behind them. Turning, they all quickly dodged as Clayface woke up and tried to attack the teens. Shooting globs of mud, Clayface aimed specifically for the person who had knocked him out only minutes before; however they continually dodged the attacks with simple movements, almost as if they were dancing.

"Stay still!" Clayface screeched. He let out a roar before shooting his arm out at the person and almost hit them if it wasn't for Robin swinging by and grabbing them. As they swung off, Artemis took the chance to shoot one of her arrows, a bomb arrow, at Clayface, blasting off his right arm. Superboy then proceeded to throw a crate at the villain; Miss Martian followed suit, using her psychic powers to throw other objects at him. After one particular throw, Clayface was knocked back tripping over a running Kid Flash and was then punched by Aqualad.

The Team, including the newcomer, surrounded the villain, as he groaned on the floor.

"Mission success," Aqualad stated. The newcomer frowned as Clayface continued to groan; they suddenly walked closer to the villain before holding their hand out over him.

"Hey! What are you…..!"

_"Spore Storm: Sleep."_ There was a flash of green light before a light cloud of blue and white spores appeared out of the person's hand, falling onto Clayface. He inhaled the spores and within seconds was fast asleep. The others looked in shock as the person walked back over to them, nodded in acknowledgement and then disappeared…or at least tried to.

As the person tried to leave, Kid Flash suddenly zipped in front of them, smiling.

"Sorry, can't let you leave yet," he stated. The person frowned before turning to face the others.

"**Anata no yūjin no ugoki o kakuninshitekudasai.** (Please make your friend move.)" the person stated almost pleading.

"Uh….what did they say?" Artemis asked, confused.

"Maybe if I read their mind, I can tell," Miss Martian suggested.

"She asked if Kid would move." Robin stated. Everyone looked at Robin in shock, seeing as he could understand the person.

"This person is a she?" Superboy asked.

"From her voice," Robin explained. "Her voice is too high-pitched to be male."

"Makes sense, I guess."

"And you can understand her?" Aqualad asked. Robin nodded before continuing.

"She's speaking Japanese, I studied it in school."

"That's useful." Robin nodded before turning back towards the nervous girl.

"**Anata wa nani o shitaidesu ka?** (What do you want?)" She asked. "**Anata ikatteiru?** (Are you mad?) **Anata ga toraburu no gen'in ka dō ka wa mōshiwakearimasen**. (I'm sorry if I caused you trouble)."

"**Wareware wa okotte imasen.** (We aren't mad.)**Watashitachi wa anata o kizutsukeru tsumori wa arimasen**, (We aren't going to hurt you)" Robin replied. "**Watashi wa Robin desu**. (My name is Robin.) **Anata no namae wa nanidesu ka?** (What is your name?)"

"**Mori desu.** (Mori)" Robin nodded before turning to face his comrades.

"So?"

"Her name is Mori."

"And?"

"And what? I didn't get to ask her much of anything else," Robin confessed.

"You two said all that and you only got her name?" Kid Flash asked.

"I also told her we aren't her enemies."

"Eto…" Everyone turned to face the girl, who was now looking sheepish, much different from how she was during the battle against Clayface. "Eto… W—what…names?"

"You can speak English?" Aqualad asked. Mori looked away sheepishly before nodding slightly.

"L-little," she replied.

"She's almost like a little kid," Artemis stated. "I can't believe she was the one fighting earlier."

"She's probably just afraid. I mean you guys are a bit intimidating. Well Superboy anyway."

"Shut it KF."

"R-robin?"

**"Hai Mori? **(Yes Mori?)" Robin had reverted to speaking Japanese, noting how nervous Mori was speaking English.

"**Yūjin no namae wa nanidesu ka? **(What are your friends' names?)" she asked again, feeling a bit more confident.

"**Sorera wa Aqualad, Miss Martian, Kid Flash, Artemis and Superboy **(They are Aqualad, Miss Martian, Kid Flash, Artemis, and Superboy)," Robin replied. Mori nodded before bowing towards the other teens.

"Uh…Rob? Why is she bowing her head at us?"

"It's traditional Japanese greeting," he explained. "One usually bows their heads when greeting or in the presence of someone who is either older or of higher status."

"Oh."

"Well, tell her there is no need for this kind of greeting," Aqualad stated. "We are all heroes here."

"She said she speaks English; she can understand us then," Superboy stated. "No need for translation."

"Remember, she said she only knew a little," Miss Martian replied.

"That's right; she's probably confused right now about what we're saying." The group looked over to see Robin conversing with Mori. From what they could hear, the two were speaking Japanese and that whatever Robin was saying, was very funny since Mori was letting out little giggles every now and then.

"Since Robin's still trying to talk with Mori, I suggest we call the police and have them apprehend Clayface. Then, back to HQ."

"Right."

"Hey Robin! We're leaving!"

"I'll be right there!" Kid Flash stared blankly as Robin continued to talk to Mori, who was still listening to every little thing the Boy Wonder said. Suddenly, Mori leaned in and whispered something in Robin's ear before placing a kiss on his cheek. She then waved goodbye to him and ran off. Robin waved back before walking over to join his friends.

Noticing his best friend's smirk, Robin raised an eyebrow.

"What?" he asked.

"Looks like someone has a crush on you," Kid Flash sang. Robin rolled his eyes behind his mask before punching his friend playfully.

"Whatever, let's head back."

Several weeks had passed and the Team hadn't seen much of Mori at all. Until one fateful afternoon…

"A new member?" Aqualad asked.

"Yes, she is a new hero from Gotham," Batman explained. "Robin and I have had several encounters with her and believe that she would be a great asset to the Team."

"Do we know who she is?"

"I've been told you've met before."

"…? We have?"

"Yes, Robin told me."

"Speaking of which, where is Robin?" Miss Martian asked.

"He's bringing your new teammate. The two of them are really close." As if on cue, the zeta tube activated, introducing the bird and their new teammate.

**"Recognized, Robin B01, Mori B08." **The Team's eyes widened as Robin entered the training hall, hand-in-hand with their new teammate, Mori.

"No way! It's you!" Mori blushed behind her mask before bowing in greeting towards the group.

"H-hello, everyone…" she greeted sheepishly.

"Mori, you don't have to bow, remember?" Robin stated. "We're all friends here."

"**Gomenasai** (Sorry), force of habit," Mori whispered.

"Hey! You're speaking English!" Kid Flash exclaimed.

"Robin has been helping Mori learn to speak English over the past few weeks," Batman explained.

"I guess that's what you meant by the two of them were close," Aqualad inferred. Batman nodded before looking over the teens.

"Another note, although Mori's English is better, she is still learning. While she is on the Team, Robin will be teaching her more and more English so during this time while she is still learning try to be patient understood?" The Team nodded in understanding before Batman left the training hall, leaving just the Team.

"So….welcome to the Team," Kid Flash exclaimed.

"T-thank you, I'm glad to be here," Mori replied.

"Now that you are part of the Team, you have a right to know our real names," Aqualad stated. "I am Kaldur'ahn but you may call me Kaldur. And this is M'Gann or Megan Morse, Artemis, Wally West and Conner Kent."

"It's nice to meet you all," Mori replied. "I would like to give you my name but I cannot. I am told not to."

"That is quite alright. We are used to this with Robin as well and we will respect that."

"We're just glad to have you on the team," Miss Martian exclaimed.

"Yeah, your combat skills are pretty awesome," Kid Flash commented, placing a hand on Mori's shoulder.

"E-eto…" Noticing Mori's nervousness, Artemis stepped in and pulled Kid Flash away from their new friend, while Robin tightened his hold on Mori's hand.

"I'm going to go ahead and take Mori on a tour," Robin said. "We'll see you guys later!" With that the two were off. The others looked at each other before back at their friends.

"Do you think something is going on between the two of them?" Artemis asked. "Like something more than Batman says?"

"Why would there be?"

"Isn't it strange how they were holding hands?" Superboy asked. "It just seems like there's more to Mori and Robin's relationship; that they've known each other for a long time, even before we met on that mission."

"Let us not start suspecting anything of our new teammate," Aqualad commented. "Mori probably just trusts Robin more because he can speak with her in a way where she isn't stressed. Learning a new language is tough."

"Right! Anyway, I think I'll go make some cookies to celebrate our new team member" Miss Martian exclaimed, hovering in the air.

"Sweet! Mind making some extra for me babe?" Kid Flash asked with a sly smile."

"You and your stomach…"

"Hey!" While the rest of the team talked, down in the hall, Robin began to cuddle with Mori.

"**Robin, yamero** (Robin stop it)," she giggled. Robin chuckled before removing Mori's mask and leaning in, his lips meeting hers in a sweet, yet passionate kiss. The two broke apart before cuddling again.

"I'm so happy you joined the Team," Robin whispered.

"Me too Richard. Me too."


End file.
